With the NBA Finals getting underway, Twitter wants to remind marketers that it remains the leading platform for real-time interaction, with sports, in particular, getting plenty of attention from Twitter users.

Indeed, according to Twitter, sports discussion via tweet has grown significantly over the past two years, with a 28% increase in sports tweets, and a 29% increase in impressions of those mentions.

Which makes sense - again, Twitter is the home of real-time updates, which is why it’s also so hard to quit, for so many users. More recent changes have annoyed some, but according to Twitter chief Elon Musk, the app continues to see record-high engagement, with Musk recently noting that Twitter reached a new milestone of 8 billion user minutes in a day.

Contextually, that’s difficult to compare, as no other platform is reporting user cumulative minutes. But you can assume that it’s a lot, while it also reported record engagement around the World Cup late last year.

Twitter also says that sports fans represent 42% of its audience, which is more than any other social platform.

While it additionally notes that brands that tap into sports discussion have a good chance of driving direct business outcomes.

“Brands on Twitter make the sports conversation richer. Relevance and creativity can really get people talking. In a recent Twitter survey into shopper behavior, three in four people said that conversations about products on Twitter resulted in them making a purchase.”

Some interesting engagement stats, which could pique your interest in connecting with this audience with your promotions.

In order to do that, Twitter recommends running Twitter Takeover ads, or using Twitter Amplify to run pre-roll video promotions against official, brand-safe content from publishers.

Twitter also notes that brands can use lookalike and event targeting to reach users discussing specific events.

Which, of course, it would, as that means more revenue for Twitter. But even if you’re not looking to use paid promotions, you could still look to tap into the discussion around sports events, by using relevant hashtags and tuning into the evolving conversation.

That’s what Oreo did in 2013, with its ‘dunk in the dark’ tweet, which coincided with a blackout during the Super Bowl.

I mean, it’s really not that impressive, but the reaction time of the tweet was what set it apart - and as you can see, that single tweet gained significant traction, and secured a heap of brand exposure.

The right message, at the right time, can be valuable, and the above engagement stats are worth noting in your planning.

You can read Twitter’s full sports engagement overview here.